Our Mission at DEEP's Forestry Division 

Is to advance the health, use, conservation, and appreciation of Connecticut's forest resource. 

We are a part of the Bureau of Natural Resources within the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). The Bureau is charged with managing the State’s natural resources (particularly fish, wildlife, and forests) through a program of research, management, public education, and regulation. The Forestry Division is comprised of several important programs that work together to conserve and manage forests.

Connecticut's state foresters and their partners protect our forest resources by:

• Encouraging private land owners to practice responsible long-term forest management (private landowners own 73% of Connecticut's forest, with more than two-thirds of that owned by families or individuals),
• Protecting Connecticut's forest resources from the effects of fire, insects, disease, and misuse,
• Providing accurate and timely information about Connecticut's forest resources,
• Certifying forest practitioners,
• Managing the State Forests, in which exist many large blocks of unfragmented forest land,
• Engaging municipalities and citizens in the work of urban forestry, and
• Promoting the local forest industry.

Content last updated in April 2022.